Click on the movie poster or the title above to download our review of the film,

featuring Sean ‘Hollywood’ Hunting.

Review in a Nutshell: I think I pronounce Jim Jarmusch’s last name about ten different ways in this recording about a movie involving urban samurai, aging gangsters, icecream, and a boat on a roof. I don’t even know who I am any more. What year is this?

7 Responses

I hate this movie so much I sort of want to re-watch it. I understand a generation of young people, including many hip hop superstars were heavily influenced by Asian cinema growing up. But their attempts at using their financial success in one medium to catapult them into their childhood dreams, most notably RZA, are to me as clumsy as Michael Jordan playing baseball.

This movie has at least some unintentional comedy value with Forrest Whitaker flailing around in slow motion like the Star Wars kid in what I assume was supposed to be a sweet cross-cultural cathartic moment.

“Unintentional comedy” — Um, no. Jarmusch and the film is acknowledging and showcasing the ridiculous nature of Ghost Dog’s (and the Italian mob’s) moral code and lifestyle. Jarmuch knows what the heck he is the doing.

Furthermore, the film references Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill, both of which are films that take the yakuza, crime genre into a bizarre, ridiculous realm.

Since you reviewed Ghost dog, I wonder if you’d be interested in podcasting another east-meets-west film that’s sort of in the same ballpark: Brothers. Brothers stars Takeshi Kitano and Omar Epps. At least that’s what my brain says.